2008
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Apple – Psystar
Jul 16
I’ve argued the only difference between a Mac and a PC is smart branding. Now Apple is suing Psystar, a small Florida company selling Mac clones, and putting that argument on a national stage.
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“Blog it out”
May 2
After complaining about a TV ad that dismissed blogging, here’s a better answer: why you should blog. MarketingProfs makes the business case; this is the personal one — expertise, practice, honest feedback, no cost, and being Google-able.
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Blogging and HR
Mar 10
Your best prospects may be too nervous to pick up the phone. Before wading through inflated resumes, Google your candidate: a blog shows more of their personality and professional style than any one-page career summary — just use that power for good.
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Telling Your Own Story: Part II
Jan 2
Back to the bait & tackle shop: Dock Dwellers, City Slickers or Locals? Your perfect customer is the one who will carry your story to others — and that points to the Dock Dwellers.
2007
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Telling Your Own Story
Dec 31
Back to our tackle shop example, only this time the shop doesn’t exist yet. Dock Dwellers, City Slickers or Locals: which segment should tell our story, and do we know enough to choose?
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‘Tis the Season
Dec 9
The fictional bait & tackle shop has found its real perfect customer. Now it has to rebrand to reach them. What rebranding involves, why timing matters, and how British Petroleum became BP, an energy company rather than an oil company.
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Story Tellers: Part II (con’t)
Dec 8
Three months into our bait & tackle thought experiment, sales are down in two of three segments. The fix: the Dock Dwellers, not the customers we chose, are the story tellers who send the City Slickers through our door.
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Story Tellers: Part II
Dec 7
Our bait & tackle shop picked the Locals as its perfect customer and rebuilt the store around them. The numbers that followed show why choosing your story tellers has to be an on-going process.
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Story Tellers: Part I
Dec 2
Someone not on your payroll is telling your brand’s story. Find that person, compare them to the perfect customer you planned for, and be ready to throw your original description away.
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Axe by Unilever
Oct 15
Axe doesn’t sell deodorant to the players. It sells to the skinny, awkward guy who wishes he were one. Why psychographics (targeting customers’ unspoken desires) make Axe’s controversial marketing genius.